'Dancing With The Stars': The 100th Episode
Double-dip tonight, with the judges' top-10 performances of the first five seasons, followed by an elimination episode that had so many return stars and guest stars that the entire actual elimination, start to finish, is handled in the last 10 minutes. Which is all it really takes, actually.
The top-10 dances, in reverse order, as revealed on the show:
10. Kelly Monaco & Alex, Season 1 (winner), Freestyle. (It says a lot about Season 1 that the only entry they could come up with out of 10 was at the bottom of the pile. This was a reflection of the "need" to at least have one entry from each season.)
9. Sabrina Bryan & Mark, Season 5, Paso Doble. (So the judges could yell at the viewers one more time for eliminating one of the best dancers on the show way too early last fall.)
8. Emmitt Smith & Cheryl, Season 3 (winner), Cha Cha Cha.
7. Apolo Anton Ohno & Julianne, Season 4 (winner), Quickstep. (But would he have won if they'd dressed him in the valet parking outfit he was forced to wear for his return in tonight's results show? Just wondering.)
6. Joey Fatone & Kym, Season 4, Jive.
5. Helio Castroneves & Julianne, Season 5 (winner), Quickstep. (The banana suit and the kissy-face at the end. Is this the dance that made Helio's fiance walk?)
4. Drew Lachey & Cheryl, Season 2 (winner), Freestyle.
3. Stacy Keibler & Tony, Season 2, Samba. (The highlight of Keibler's entire career, it would appear. Unless, of course, you're a major wrestling junkie.)
2. Mel B & Maksim, Season 5, Paso Doble. (The dominatrix moment! The best--and scariest--"DWTS" costume of all time).
1. Mario Lopez & Karina, Season 3, Tango. (Note the trend here: All three of the best dances ever were not by winners.)
A slew of former contestants are on hand for the show -- so many that Tom Bergeron can only introduce or talk to a few and ends up snubbing a bunch of others. (And why did he waste so much time trying to elicit something sane from Jerry Springer, who, it must be said, looks absolutely ancient?). Among the bodies in the audience are Kenny Mayne, Vivica A. Fox, Ian Ziering, Joey Fatone, Jane Seymour and Sabrina Bryan.
Featured dances on the elimination episode include Ohno (in that maroon nightmare of a get-up), Mel B (still smokin') and Mario Lopez, whose performance -- with cast members from Broadway's "A Chorus Line" -- is obviously pre-taped, though the judges are wearing the same clothes they have on for the show, just to make us all feel as if it's live. Speaking about live shows, how about that Rascal Flatts "American Idol"/"DWTS" cross-pollination? Paula Abdul is already well-known as a DWTS stalker, showing up in the audience upon occasion, but Rascal Flatts sets a record tonight, appearing (according to my DVR) in the audience of "Idol" at 8:44 p.m. (Rascal Flatts got a shout-out from Ryan Seacrest) and then performing on "DWTS" at 9:14. Have to say, it must be a circus on those adjacent soundstages on Tuesday nights.
Some of the previous winners are asked to pick their favorites from Season 6, and the answers are pretty predictable. Kelly Monaco likes Kristi, because she wants another chick to finally win again; Apolo Ohno gives a little nod to Jason Taylor as a fellow athlete, but clearly wants his fellow skater to win as well; and Drew goes for Cristian because he's partners with Cheryl and all.
Nobody picks Marissa, but that's okay because she's the first! one! saved! and! shrieks! in! joy! Wowser, that Broadway-fan voting bloc is pretty big, because she's been due to get booted for a while now. Big hair, small hair, no hair -- doesn't matter, she who still gets giddy happy over 9's at this stage of the game is not going to last much longer.
Still, her salvation means that the boys all get to sweat out those last few minutes (really, does anyone think Kristi isn't going to the finals?). Karina gets caught on camera having a pouty face, because she pretty much knows that means she and Mario are toast. Which they are, because he doesn't have a big public voting bloc, and one-armed Cristian came into the night with his best scores ever. And Jason, well, he has to be getting all the jock votes, and his slide near the bottom of the leader board just didn't seem all that threatening at this point.
Mario, who is all of 21, thanks Len for his constructive criticism (if that's what you can call being told you have big icky feet) and shrugs off the whole youngest-competitor-ever on the show compliments by noting that guys his age are out fighting the war. Totally classy exit.
--JENNIFER FREY
Jennifer Frey
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May 7, 2008; 10:13 AM ET
Dancing With the Stars
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Posted by: Abby | May 7, 2008 11:33 AM
Mario should have been the one to win this competition. Kristi should never have been allowed to be on it - she has so many advantages it is outrageous. Marissa got the fat girl vote across America. It is totally wrong that she is still there and she should have been voted off weeks ago but for the fat girl across America vote. I will not watch this show anymore. Even the judges realized that the stuff that comes out of their mouths affects the public. They were absolutely shocked that Mario got the boot. He is clearly the one true talent when you get beyond the ice skater who has a lifetime of experience with partner dancing, choreography, etc. Marissa knows that she should NOT be there. She is no more talented than any other fat girl who can dance. And she knows it. Just another example of a sympathy vote from a sizeable fan club.
Posted by: Jill | May 7, 2008 11:44 AM
I have to admit that I probably didn't give Mario his due earlier--I've been far too busy ogling Cristian and worrying that he'd be voted off early (given that he's not that great and dancer and all). But I have to give Mario credit for being a good dancer, a good entertainer, a good sport, and a totally classy guy. Wow. Did he put Len to shame for his nasty (and inappropriate) comments, or what?
Way to go, Mario. I wish you all the success in your career--and in life--that you deserve. You've won me over as a fan, that's for sure.
Posted by: alex | May 7, 2008 2:26 PM
I think Karina did not consider the audience and her partner enough with her choreography. Playing to Mario's youth and exuberance would have been great, however she put too much emphasis on his sex appeal. While appreciating sensualness, I did have the "get a room" reaction to their dancing more than once. I think she did Mario a dis-service.
Marisa, although not as good as dancer, does have a partner who works with her abilities and takes care in how she is presented to the audience.
Have to give Cheryl a lot of credit on her choreography. Those dances were great, hurt arm or no hurt arm.
Posted by: Samantha | May 7, 2008 3:28 PM
Agree w/ the other comments about Mario's partnering. Wonder how far he could have gone with Julianne Hough, for instance? Someone personally more likeable, and also with a more diverse style that could showcase the youthful element.
Also agree that Tony has worked hard to showcase Marissa. He's taken the judges' comments to heart and tried to incorporate them--unlike last season when he was too thin-skinned and kept getting in snits over things, especially with Carrie Ann. That sort of thing just doesn't get you anywhere. He's worked on his attitude and done a great job. (Can you imagine Maks being such a good partner for Marissa?)
I spend way too much time thinking about this, don't I? :-)
Posted by: alex | May 8, 2008 6:44 PM
I very much enjoyed your thoughts, Alex, even if, as you suggest, you have way too many of them about DWTS. In particular, your suggestion of how a Maks-Marissa combo might have played out is almost more than my brain can handle. Yow!
Back to Mario -- a few weeks ago, I wrote a comment about how Mario needed to get his ego in check if he wanted to remain on the show. Thinking about how he handled himself over the past 2 weeks' performances and especially his leave-taking on Tuesday night, Mario appeared to have done just that. Terrific!
Separately, it appears to me that a lot of Len's ill humor lately stems from Bruno, who frequently talks very loudly over Len's comments (and, I might add, directly into Len's ear), preventing Len from even completing a sentence. Although I enjoy Bruno and his comments very much, I would really like to see him give Len a little more respect and common courtesy.
Posted by: gail24 | May 9, 2008 12:41 PM
The Final Episode of Dancing w/ the Stars (Season 6) was pretty good this year. I liked "Usher" & his new song but didn't like his old song "Yeah" as much, the way that he changed the style of it. As far as dancers go I love Kristy & I feel she is the most talented. It may be true that she does have more experience then the other two dancers but putting that aside you cannot deny that she is such a great dancer. Christian made a really good effort and I wish he would have come in second. Jason is an o.k. dancer but I didn't feel that he deserved to be in 2nd place over Christian. Oh well, the public voted and they choose who they liked most.
I am happy w/ their decision to make Kristy the winner.... Looking forward to next season.... Deborah
Posted by: Anonymous | May 21, 2008 1:44 AM
The comments to this entry are closed.
A general comment: men should not wear maroon pants. Or red pants. It always looks stupid.
I was sad to see Mario go, he is more entertaining and more talented than Marissa. However, the interplay between her and Tony is more fun to watch than that between Mario and Karina--Karina seems like she has had a chip on her shoulder for most of the season. Also, she tends to choose slightly old-fashioned music (a tisket, a tasket, a pretty yellow basket?). Still, her choreography is good and I wish they had stuck around.